Archive for category: Parenting

When I was younger, under 7 years old, I remember picking flowers for my mother. We always had a nice, landscaped yard and I remember living in Annapolis on the water. There were flowers planted all around the house and I remember admiring all of their colors everyday.

There was this one time specifically, that I have always remembered.

I don’t remember what provoked my wanting to gift my mother with something other than just wanting to please her and make her happy, because I loved her so much. I was so young, I obviously couldn’t buy her anything and I guess I didn’t think to make her anything. So I wanted to give her flowers. I remember having the bright idea of going around the house and picking the prettiest of all the flowers and making a bouquet for her. When I was finished, I took the bouquet to her, so proud of myself, awaiting her response. She had the perfect mix of emotion….delight from the intention I had and then the disappointment that the flowers would soon die and she had probably waited so long for them to finally bloom. I remember every single move she made and the exact expression on her face. She was kind and said….’thank you…but please don’t pick my flowers again, okay?’ She didn’t explain to me that flowers died after you separated them from the ground, and she kept telling me how pretty they were and how much she liked them (I kept asking her if she liked them). But I was a little confused by the mixed reaction. I have never forgotten that. I am not criticizing her, and I don’t think she meant any harm at all…but she didn’t explain anything to me, and so I never understood what exactly happened.

Anyways, I always knew that that day would come for me when I had kids….the ole’ picking of the flowers on the property….the flowers that I don’t want to be gone…the killing of the beautiful flowers (hee hee). Well, yesterday, as I was sitting inside my house, I was reading something and here come my little boys. They are 5 years old and 3 (4 next month-what?!), and they had me close my eyes. I open them and voila! A picked flower from my planter. And then, voila! One from Diego too. And then voila! More flowers from the planter. I just smiled and thanked them for the flowers. The boys lingered around, so I did end up telling them that I love the flowers and that once they pick them, they die, and so they don’t have to pick flowers from the yard. Max added that he had picked one from the yard as well. We talked about it some more, no feelings were hurt and there was no confusion.

They were so proud and I was so flattered. I remembered the amount of love I had when I picked those flowers and gifted them to my mother. If those boys have half of that love for me….then, I’ll take it.

When children are young, they usually need naps. It used to be a lot easier when the kids were younger and slept in their cribs, but now that they have twin beds that they can climb in and out of and are full of energy, they don’t usually choose intentional down time. So we have resorted to ‘nap rides’. We would do this once in a while back in the day when a child wouldn’t sleep and would fuss a lot. It’s a no brainer and works every time. Since we only have one vehicle, it gets tricky for me when Lance is at work or school. He has had off lately due to Christmas break, so I have been utilizing the van everyday. Read more →

Kids get into everything. I really think that if they are left alone long enough, there isn’t anything that they couldn’t do. I’m referring to my kids, and curious toddlers in general.

We did what every set of parents have done, and we have child proofed the house. We have the appropriate drawer locks, cabinet locks, baby gates and whatever else. These things have worked but are temporary fixes as children get older. Kids are smart and they learn how things work, and boy do they work them when they figure them out. Needless to say, we no longer have plug outlet protectors, because they end up in their mouths and are not protecting anything at all. Read more →

I think it’s time to have a nice light hearted post about how fun parenting is (written in sarcastic tone).

The other day, we had a family day since Lance had off work. We ran a couple of errands and went on the hunt for a big boy bike for Max. We stopped off at The Greene Turtle in the shopping center because we were feeling ambitious and because we haven’t gone out in public to eat as a family since, I don’t know when. We just don’t do it. The reasons why we don’t do it are: Read more →

I am a social person. As much as I do need alone time and can appreciate quiet moments by myself, I lean heavily on connecting, relating, and sharing with other people. Up until my first trimester with the twins, I was bartending and still making all social functions with all of my friends, and having play dates for Max constantly. I am a very open person, not one for small talk, I’m always ready to really get to know people and hear their stories. All of my past jobs have been in the service industry, I even was an HIV Counselor for a couple years after I moved to Baltimore which included outreach work in the most drug infested streets of the city and I had to approach people to talk to them about their sexual partners and health status. It was not a job for the meek, I’ll tell you that. But I really enjoyed it and I learned a ton about people and life. I miss that job sometimes. Read more →